Politics Jon Ossoff's $23 Million Loss Shows Dems Have No Idea How to Win in the Age of Trump

http://www.thedailybeast.com/karen-...-to-lose-special-election-in-the-era-of-trump

SANDY SPRINGS, Georgia—After $50 million and a congressional contest bigger than some presidential primaries, the special election in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District to replace Rep. Tom Price ended up where it began, with the Republican House seat still in Republican hands and national Democrats still looking for a way to turn the resistance to Donald Trump into a victory at the polls.

With 81 percent reporting, former Secretary of State Karen Handel defeated Democrat Jon Ossoff 52.5 percent to 47.5 percent.

From the moment Price announced he was leaving the seat to become President Donald Trump’s secretary of health and human services, the race to replace him was a highly nationalized, money-soaked brawl—a referendum, especially for Democrats, on the president in an affluent suburban Atlanta district he’d barely won in November.

 

No amount of out of state money and mainstream media promotion of this candidate was enough.

I didn't write this headline, and the dailybeast is a left wing site.

Finally asking the most important question (at the end):

But after $23 million, a candidate who genuinely ignited the grassroots, and a Republican president who may or may not be (but probably is) under FBI investigation and can’t stop talking about it, the real question Democrats need to answer is: What’s it going to take to win an election in the era of Trump?

 

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/20/geor...karen-handel-wins-house-special-election.html

GOP's Karen Handel wins most expensive House race ever, dashing Democrat upset hopes

 

NYTimes

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/20/opinion/georgia-election-karen-handel-jon-ossoff.html?ref=opinion

After Georgia Election, Democrats Are Demoralized, Again

 

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive...eorgia-6th-most-expensive-house-election.html

 

Hardly. She thanked Trump in her acceptance speech. He pushed for her to win.

She won the district by more than Trump did. She isn't exactly an incumbent running unopposed.

Turns out her strategy of linking Ossoff with Pelosi was the effective message.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/20/politics/georgia-house-results-ossoff-handel/index.html

Handel's victory showed that even with Republicans in power, the GOP's message in recent election cycles -- focused largely on urging voters to reject House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi -- remains potent.

 

I'd rather have national initiatives, yearly nationwide ballot measures.

 

1. The constitution can be changed/improved.

2. There was no way to conduct and tabulate such a system when the constitution was written. States have shown we can easily and accurately do that now.

 

Things would be simpler with less pork and backroom deasl. No way there would have been a 974 page Obamacare ballot measure.

Also when you break things down into issues the look at things beyond parties. For right or wrong liberal California said no to gay marriage. Liberal Oregon said no to taxing corporations to pay for the poor.

It was the citizens of Great Britain that voted to leave the EU.

 

I don't think that last one really supports your position.

barfo

 

You know, I could go for this under one condition. Not only is the vote not secret, but everyone is forced to wear a badge that indicates which way they voted for the next 5 years or so. That way there will be some accountability for stupid decisions, and maybe a little bit of motivation to actually study an issue before voting on it.

Alternatively, there could be an exam before voting where you would have to prove you understood the ramifications of what you were voting on. And it wouldn't be an easy exam, either. Trump wouldn't get to vote on most things.

barfo

 

C'mon, get real.

It's not my basement, it's my mom's.

barfo